Carson donations tanked after foreign policy stumbles

Donations to Ben Carson's campaign fell off a cliff as signs of his lacking foreign policy chops began to dent his poll numbers.

Eighty-five percent of the campaign's $22.6 million haul came before Nov. 13, when the Paris terrorist attacks turned the candidates' focus to national security. Only $3.6 million trickled in in the last month-and-a-half, according to the Carson campaign's filing with the Federal Election Commission Sunday.

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The campaign spent an eye-popping $27 million in the fourth quarter, $5 million more than it took in, leaving itself with only $6.6 million heading into the most important month of the campaign.

Had the campaign finished the quarter like it started, its total would have climbed to more like $38 million, more than Bernie Sanders raised andclose to the $40 million that former campaign manager Barry Bennett told POLITICO was the original target when Carson had surged to the top of polls and seemed poised to finish in the top tier.

But mid-November was around when reports surfaced of discrepancies in Carson's biography and his own advisers' doubts about his grasp of foreign policy. Polls showed his support slipping as he struggled to name allies against the Islamic State, incorrectly said China had intervened in Syria, and pronounced the name of militant group Hamas more like the chickpea dip hummus.

Still, the campaign showed wide support from small donors, with 55 percent of its checks for less than $200.

The campaign also continued its penchant for lavish spending, dropping $9,000 at the Four Seasons and $1,100 at the Ritz Carlton. It spent $7.3 million on printing and postage and $2.4 million on phone banks, compared with $3.2 million on media and just $250,000 on payroll.

The report also revealed the sharply climbing tab incurred by Dean Parker, the campaign’s national finance director until he resigned earlier this month following a POLITICO report about mounting criticism over his use of campaign funds.

Parker’s Mobile, Ala. based operation racked up about $1.5 million in bills for finance consultants, travel and office supplies, including about $1.2 million for the firm “Communication Management Source,” which is run by Parker’s wife, labeled only as “travel.”